On Wednesday Crown Princess Victoria stepped out to visit the National Library of Sweden and learn more about the National Library Strategy. During her visit, the Crown Princess received a lovely surprise from the library staff.
Dressed in a baby blue suit, Crown Princess Victoria started her day with a visit to the National Library in Stockholm. At the main entrance, the Crown Princess was welcomed by the national librarian, Gunilla Herdenberg.
The aim of the visit was to learn more about how the National Library of Sweden works with the historical collections and archives. The National Library is currently cooperating on a project started by the Swedish government to develop a Nationwide strategy for all publically funded libraries.
The Crown Princess was shown many unique pieces of the library’s archives and received a presentation by the national coordinator of the project, Erik Fichtelius. Crown Princess Victoria was said to be impressed as she got to see the Codex Gigas, Djävulsbibeln, thought to be the world’s largest handwriting which was rescued from a fire in 1697.
Photo: Sara/Kungl. Court
But the biggest surprise was yet to come. Deep in the vaults of the library, the Crown Princess was shown archive pictures when all of a sudden she said: “oh goodness it’s Daniel!”
The library staff had found a picture of Victoria’s husband Prince Daniel when he was aged 16. It was a school photo from Hammer High School in Sandviken. Crown Princess Victoria laughed when she saw the picture and looked at it very closely.
After the visit, the National Librarian said: “The Crown Princess showed great interest in the libraries’ democratic mission. She especially thougt the issue of the school libraries and the importance of open access to research results was very interesting.”
Crown Princess Victoria had another engagement scheduled after. She attended a meeting of the WWF initiative “Baltic NOW”. The aim of the initiative is to protect the Baltic Sea.
